Seminar component

  • Mandatory attendance for the training session that is scheduled during orientation week at the law school.
  • Mandatory attendance for the weekly seminar classes.

Individual meetings with program director – From time to time, each student shall meet with Professor Kelly Terry on an individual basis to evaluate the progress of his or her externship. Professor Terry will conduct these meetings on an “as needed” basis and will schedule them in consultation with the student.

Weekly timesheets – Students must complete weekly timesheets documenting their externship work.

Externship learning memos – Students must complete learning memos as assigned by Professor Terry over the course of the semester.

Student evaluation – At the end of the externship placement, every student must submit a student course evaluation to Professor Terry. This evaluation is a standard form the student will be asked to complete with thoughts on how to improve the externship program in the future.

Supervisor evaluation – Each field supervisor shall complete an evaluation of each student that the field supervisor is responsible for supervising.

Social functions – Students shall not attend any of the internal or external social functions of the office in which they are serving as an extern. There is no exception to this prohibition unless Professor Terry has specifically authorized, in advance, student attendance at a social function. Such authorization will be granted only when Professor Terry has determined in advance that student participation in the social function is relevant to the goals of the externship program. Student participation and attendance at in-house, “brown bag” lunches provided by the office in which the student is serving as an extern are acceptable.

Professionalism – Students must, at all times, maintain a professional image both in dress and conduct. Students should recognize that they are representatives of the law school and that their conduct will reflect on the law school. Students shall abide by the Arkansas Rules on Professional Conduct, the Arkansas Rules of Judicial Conduct, and all other applicable ethical rules. Students shall follow the dress code of the office in which they are serving as externs and shall not wear jeans or other casual clothing to their placement office unless they are specifically authorized by their field placement supervisor to do so.

Commitment – Each extern selected to participate in this program was chosen after careful deliberation. Each extern is expected to be committed to complete participation in the program. If an extern is not willing to give 100 percent effort to the program, then the extern should withdraw from the program.

Rules and protocol – The rules, policies, and protocols of the offices where students are serving as externs are strictly enforced. Students should abide by all rules and be at all times respectful of the longstanding protocols of their placement sites.

Hours – Students participating in a first externship must complete at least 100 hours of service by the end of the semester and commit to spend 10 hours a week in the office in which they are serving as externs. Students participating in a second externship must complete 115 hours of work at their placement site. Students are expected to spend a minimum of ten weeks working at their externship placements.

Outside employment – Some judges permit students to have outside employments in the legal profession during an externship, while other judges do not. Externs placed with a judge must abide by all restrictions on outside employment imposed by that judge. Externs not placed with a judge generally may have outside employment in the legal profession during an externship, so long as the outside employment does not constitute a conflict of interest with the work of the externship site.

Non-payment rule – All externships are non-paying, meaning students cannot receive payment in return for their work.

Abuse of externship position – An externship is a position of trust. Externs shall not use the prestige of their placement offices for unethical or improper purposes.